Angkana” asks for a commitment from the government to stop the culture of impunity, asking how to restore confidence when the rule of law has been destroyed. She is concerned about murder and enforced disappearance cases hidden in suppression measures, repeating the drug war era. Thawee Sodsong insists that the government does not act outside the law, and the past is another matter.
In the joint parliamentary meeting, chaired by Mr. Mongkol Surassajja, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Cabinet announced its policy to the parliament in accordance with Article 162 of the Constitution. Ms. Angkana Neelapaijit, a member of the Senate, discussed that she would like to commend the government for setting a policy to make drug addicts patients, which gives drug addicts the opportunity to live their lives and receive voluntary rehabilitation instead of imprisonment. This case may significantly reduce the number of prisoners. Although the number of drug offenders in prison has decreased, these peopl
e have not disappeared. Even though they voluntarily seek treatment instead of imprisonment, they rarely go for rehabilitation. These people are still in society and in their families.
Ms. Angkana said that it is a great challenge because the drug problem in the community is a huge burden on families and communities because the community lacks the capacity to treat and rehabilitate drug addicts, while the Department of Probation itself has budget and personnel limitations, both in terms of investigation and monitoring of treatment.
Angkana also mentioned the case where the government stated that it would cooperate with neighboring countries to suppress drugs, and she was concerned that how would the government be able to guarantee that such cooperation would not amount to suppression, but rather to a cross-border violation of human rights, as shown in the United Nations report that countries in the Mekong region have violated human rights across borders, including trafficking and enforced disappearances, in
the name of drug suppression and counter-terrorism.
Ms. Angkana continued that how could the government have a principle that solving the drug problem would not repeat the policies of the past drug war? Because after the implementation of that policy, there were 2,604 murder cases and 2,873 deaths, consisting of murder cases where the deceased was involved in drug cases and those not involved in drug cases, and the cause was unknown. In addition, there were a number of people who were forced to disappear, and it was reported that there were more than 10 cases out of 77 missing persons in Thailand, most of whom were ethnic groups in the North and Northeast.
‘Today, the statute of limitations on the deaths of thousands of people has expired, with no one being held accountable or punished, to the point where villagers say that people have died, people have disappeared, but no one is guilty,’ said Ms. Angkana.
Ms. Angkana said that in terms of restoring trust by adhering to the rule of law, how can the governm
ent create the rule of law, justice, or transparency when Thailand still has a culture of impunity and the people have never had access to the right to establish the truth in cases of human rights violations by the state?
‘Impermeability is the use of violence by the state against citizens without anyone being held accountable. Impunity is a violation of the rule of law of the country and creates inequality in society because the rule of law is a guarantee that all citizens are equal before the law. The state will protect the powerless from the powerful. But if the sacredness of the law is destroyed, how can the state create equality or restore public confidence when citizens who do wrong must be punished, while state officials who commit wrongdoings are rarely punished?’ said Ms. Angkana.
Angkana said that the important thing to restore trust is not just talking, but the state must truly make people equal before the law. The state must not protect the guilty, must not allow extrajudicial killings and enfor
ced disappearances. The government must end Thailand’s culture of impunity. She wanted to hear the government’s commitment on this issue.
Pol. Gen. Thawee Sodsong, Minister of Justice, stood up to explain that the government had announced a policy that we would adhere to the rule of law and strengthen our rule of law. Our definition of a decisive solution to the drug problem is to proceed according to the law, not to act outside the law. Importantly, I would like everyone to be confident that today we have the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act B.E. 2565, in which I am the chairman of the Prevention Committee. If there is an arrest, there must be a camera recording or images for the relatives to see as proof. As for the past, that is another matter. But at present, we understand and will proceed strictly according to the law. In the feelings of all citizens, drugs are a threat, and I believe that the public will participate in this matter.
Source: Thai News Agency